WVU Comes Up Short in All Offense, No Defense Game at ISU

In a pivotal conference matchup in a tough road environment, WVU came up short, defeated at the hands by the Iowa Cyclones, 45-42, and were forced to fly out of Ames still winless in the conference.

After a back and forth early in the first quarter, Mike Hawkins eventually found West Virginia native Cyrus Traugh in the back of the end zone at 6:53. However, the Mountaineers were unable to hold that momentum for long, allowing the Cyclones to march up the field themselves and eventually find their own open receiver in the end zone.

And with penalties building up, the pressure was mounting on West Virginia to not lose control of the game. The home team did take advantage of the highly-penalized Mountaineers, as Aiden Flora fired a surprise pass off a trick play to Cody Jackson, putting Iowa State out in front 14-7.

WVU’s defense then stepped up, giving Hawkins and company a chance to respond themselves. And Hawkins did respond like only can, using his legs to carry the offense all the way to the house. Hawkins capped off a seven play, 60-yard drive with an eight-yard touchdown run to tie the game.

However, ISU will go into the locker room with the lead and momentum after a touchdown drive off the second touchdown pass from Flora. A rough PI call off a pass thrown out of bounds set up the score.

The momentum and the lead would both quickly increase in favor of the Cyclones in the opening minutes of the second half. A quick three and out for the WVU offense proceeded Flora’s first touchdown run, one right up the middle, to add to his two passes, that created a two-score edge at 28-14 and then was compounded by a Hawkins fumble while going down for a sack.

Fortunately for WVU, an interception made up for that fumble and Cam Cook finally erupted with a 37-yard gain before Hawkins would make up for his fumble with a short touchdown run. And with a 1:07 left in the third quarter, West Virginia scored their second-straight touchdown, one set up by both Hawkins’ legs and arm and then cemented by Cook.

The problem of allowing chunk plays continued for West Virginia, granted they did keep the Cyclones out of the end zone as they settled for a 35-yard field goal and a 31-28 lead at 10:45 of the fourth quarter. That slim deficit for WVU didn’t stand long though, as Cook surpassed 100 yards on the ground and pounded the ball back to pay dirt, putting the Mountaineers in front 35-31.

Although as has been the case all day, that didn’t last long either. Missed tackles by the Mountaineer defense helped spark Flora for 63 yards, his longest run of the season, and fourth overall touchdown of the game. Hawkins to DJ Epps for 47 yards following a 27-yard gain by Cook made the Iowa State score a distant memory, too.

The scoreboard read 42-38 with 5:04 remaining. But the WVU defense, aided by a pass interference call, failed to stop Flora and Cyclones’ attack. Flora punched in his fifth score to move over 200 yards.

Then, and with 1:57 left on the game clock, it was up to Hawkins to save the day for Mountaineer Nation. And while he flirted with doing so, most notably off a 13-yard scramble for a first down at 1:09, it appeared as if an interception ruined the attempt until the call was overturned, although a fumble on a reception by Epps does the trick to hand the Cyclones the win.

The loss dropped WVU’s record to 3-2, but most importantly, 0-2 in the Big 12 standings.

Next up for WVU is a date with Arizona back at home in Morgantown. Kickoff for the Mountaineers and Wildcats is set for noon ET on Oct. 10.